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Hanover Cooperative Community Fund

The Hanover Cooperative Community Fund (HCCF) was established by the Co-op’s Board of Directors in 2001. The HCCF helps fund co-op development nationally and non-profits locally with help from our friends at the Twin Pines Cooperative Foundation.

HCCF community project grants will be available to local 501[c]3 organizations whose work is aligned with the Co-op’s charitable giving goals: supporting food assistance and access; community building, including support for agriculture; enhancing cooperative principles and activities; or promoting sustainable environmental practices.

The HCCF supports two projects:

1) The Gerstenberger Scholarship Fund

The Gerstenberger Scholarship Fund (GSF) offers scholarships to members and employees of cooperatives in the Upper Valley who seek to further the cooperative movement through education, training, and/or business development. The Fund is named in honor of the Hanover Consumer Cooperative Society’s long-serving General Managers, Harry and Arthur Gerstenberger, and first Education Director, Sally Gerstenberger.

2) Community Project Grant

The Gerstenbergers were also staunch advocates of sustainable, organic farming and gardening. This theme is echoed by the HCCF’s second project: providing targeted, small-scale grants ($500 - $2,500) to Upper Valley non-profits.

In 2018, the HCCF awarded the following grants:

Community Project Grants

The following four local non-profits are this year’s Community Project Grant winners:

West Central Behavioral Health’s inShape Program ($2,250)
Provides mentored food and exercise services to the mentally ill to improve their quality of life and long-term health.

Twin Pines Housing Co-op’s Crockpot Cooking Program ($1,200)
Offers residents cooking classes, recipes and the use of the program’s crockpots to make the most of seasonal produce from Willing Hands.

Gerstenberger Scholarship

The $2,500 Gerstenberger Scholarship went to Melissa K. Scanlan of Norwich, VT. Ms. Scanlan is the director of the New Economy Law Center at Vermont Law School. She will be a Senior Fulbright Scholar at the University of Alicante, in Spain, where she will research the environmental goals and impacts of the highly successful Mondragón cooperative, the parent to 111 co-ops.

Learn More

Want to learn more about the HCCF? AprilHarkness [at] coopfoodstore.com (EMAIL US HERE. We'd love to hear from you.)